Cheron
A feminine given name of uncertain meaning, possibly French.
Name Census estimates that about 650 living Americans carry the first name Cheron. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Cheron today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cheron births was 1978 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cheron. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
650
~ 1 in 527,314 Americans
Peak year
1978
37 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2010 SSA rank
#12,574
Tracked since 1943
Census
Cheron in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 709 people with the first name Cheron, which placed it at #16,031 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,031
National first-name rank
People counted
709
709 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
63.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cheron
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheron is Black at 63.2%. The next largest groups are White (26.7%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Cheron described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Cheron at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American63.2% · 448
- White26.7% · 189
- Two or more races5.1% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Cheron
Cheron leans heavily female at 86.5% of total registrations, but 99 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cheron as a male name
- Ranked #12,574 in 2010
- 5 male births in 2010
- Peak: 1974 (9 births)
Cheron as a female name
- Ranked #15,843 in 2001
- 5 female births in 2001
- Peak: 1978 (32 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cheron leans strongly female. 592 people counted with this name were female (83.7%), compared with 115 male bearers (16.3%).
Popularity
Cheron: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cheron from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 293 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cheron by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cheron during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cherons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Cheron, while Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cheron
The name Cheron has its roots in ancient Greek, derived from the word "kheros," which means "widower" or "bereaved." It gained prominence during the classical era in Greece, particularly in the regions of Attica and the Peloponnese.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cheron can be found in the works of the Greek historian Plutarch, who mentioned a Spartan warrior named Cheron in his "Parallel Lives" in the 1st century AD. Plutarch described Cheron as a brave and skilled fighter who fought alongside King Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.
The name Cheron also appears in various ancient Greek myths and legends. In one tale, Cheron was a son of Apollo and the nymph Calliope, renowned for his exceptional musical talents. Another myth depicts Cheron as a centaur, known for his wisdom and ability to heal wounds with herbs and plants.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cheron. One of the earliest was Cheron of Laconia, a Greek sculptor who lived in the 6th century BC and is known for his intricate stone carvings adorning temples and public buildings in ancient Sparta.
Another prominent figure was Cheron of Alexandria, a renowned philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 5th century AD. He is credited with making significant contributions to the field of geometry and is believed to have influenced the works of the mathematician Euclid.
In the realm of literature, Cheron of Naucratis was a Greek poet and grammarian who lived in the 3rd century BC. He is remembered for his elegant poetry and his work in preserving and studying ancient Greek texts.
During the Byzantine era, Cheron was the name of a notable military commander who served under Emperor Basil II in the 10th century AD. He played a crucial role in the Byzantine Empire's campaigns against the Bulgarians and was celebrated for his strategic prowess on the battlefield.
In the world of art, Cheron was the name of a French painter and engraver who lived in the 17th century. Born in 1635, he gained recognition for his skillful portraits and allegorical works, which adorned the palaces and galleries of the French nobility.
People
Cheron + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cheron as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cheron: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cheron?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 650 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cheron going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 527,314 US residents.
Is Cheron a common name?
We classify Cheron as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 734 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cheron most popular?
The single biggest year for Cheron was 1978, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cheron is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cheron in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 709 people with the name Cheron, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,031 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Cheron in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Cheron?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cheron leans strongly female. 592 people counted with this name were female (83.7%), compared with 115 male bearers (16.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Cheron?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheron is Black at 63.2%. The next largest groups are White (26.7%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Cheron most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cheron in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.2% (448 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cheron in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cheron a female name?
Yes, 86.5% of people registered as Cheron in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Cheron still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cheron in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cheron can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Cheron?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Cheron on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.